Bus travel safety in Bolivia

I haven't heard of any attack on longdistance busses by bandits in Bolivia.
About the roads the situation is the same as in Peru.

In relation to driving conditions and drivers themselves. Yes I have to say that I have been scared when travelling in Bolivia. Overtaking on blind corners is the one that really scares me. But I have never had a drunk bus driver, and speeding wasn't really an issue IMO. As I said, I got really scared when on mountain roads, with a long drop off the side into the valley below the driver decides to overtake a truck on a blind corner where any second, another vehicle could come hurting around causing a head on or one of us to go over the side into the valley below.

But I have also had that happen in Vietnam, Guatemala, India and Iraq too.

Never had a problem on a Bolivian bus. Of course there are safety issues, but I felt far worse n buses in Ecuador where my bus turned on its side. The biggest risk you wil face are road closures from sudden strikes

I've been living in Bolivia for almost 7 years now and I must say I haven't experienced more than the very occasional idiot behind the wheel when travelling. I remember one scary trip from Copacabana to La Paz where the driver insisted on doing 120 km/h on a two lane road in the dark and almost collided with a car coming from a side road, after which he continued at the same speed, and another where our driver tried going 80 or 100 km/h downhill during the first, bumpy, downhill stretch from Coroico to La Paz and lost several pieces of luggage from the rooftop in the process. When several of us passengers threatened we'd toss him into the ravine if he'd continue that style of driving, he slowed down :) But those are really the only bad experiences I've had in all that time.

On shorter distance trips, my family and I do avoid the big buses and opt for minibuses+ or even better +minivans instead. A minibus fits 14 passengers, a minivan is a large size regular car that fits 6 to 8. Both of these are a bit more expensive but way more maneuverable than the big buses so you aren't halfway over the 80 meter drops at every turn when travelling La Paz to Chulumani or some other such route, so you limit your risk taking these.

You won't have a problem in Bolivia. Yeah, they might drive a little bit more aggressively than you would wish sometimes, especially if you're taking trufis (shared taxis). No extra danger though in my opinion, even at night.

Perú is a different story. I've been told that some bus routes are more dangerous in the evenings, and you're better off taking day buses for those routes. Peruvian buses have always seemed more willing to pick up passengers mid-route in my experience. And if you're picking up passengers in the middle of the night in the interior of the country, well...

Haha! Alright, thank you so much, guys! :)

Edited by: iko79

First of all--NEVER believe anything on Trip advisor--All of my bad posts were deleted within hours.

Buses--Peruvian buses are GREAT!

Ecuador bus drivers are the Retards of the world Bus system--some buses are actually posted with a passenger limit if 140 and they do not count kids. They stop every 200 meters to pick up more people.

Bolivia-I thought their buses very excellent...but I met others who were held up by strikes in the middle of no where for 16 to 36 hours last May & June. They told me to take water and snacks with me.

I took buses Puno (Peru)-Copacabana-La Paz and La Paz-Desguarados-Puno in 2010 and had no problems at all. Very comfortable in fact and certainly not dangerous. Biggest danger was the stinking ferry across Lake Titicaca - a definite health hazard and it looked none too seaworthy to me.

My bus trip back up the hill from Coroico to La Paz, the bus driver cut corners to maintain speed etc.
I found all the buses very comfortable however. As I said on another post of yours, the full cama from La Paz to Potosi/Sucre Is very comfortable, yet saw plenty of travelers opting to rough it on other buses to save a few dollars.